Twelve Guardians
by HiImNewHere
Summary: It's around Halloween time at the DWMA, and the year has progressed as normal. However, a series of unfortunate events leads to what could potentially be the destruction of the school.


_As you guys may have noticed, it took me forever to update the old SotS, however I have come back! With a new, better version of it, or so I've been told by my editor._

~o~o~o~o~

_Deep green eyes analyzed the wreckage of what was a burning village below. She looked down at her body, which was once clad in her simple casual attire, but now bore golden armour. As she scanned her own body again, which she was quite sure she was familiar with, she realized it felt... different. Her shoulders seemed more squared, her jaw less refined. And even through the armour, she was positive that her feet were larger, too._

_She rushed down the hillside, a sudden urge to save the village overcoming her. A cry for help resounded from a nearby hut. Quickly, she dashed towards the assumed residency. However, an evil glare met her instead as burning wreckage collapsed on her._

Blaire's eyes shot open. Panting, she looked around. It was morning. Breathing a sigh of relief, it was only then that she realized cold sweat was trickling down her face. After hearing a door open, she quietly climbed out of her bed, pushing the covers off to the side. She slid her feet into her slippers. She stretched, enjoying the relief as she rolled out her back, vertebrae by vertebrae. Satisfied, she exhaled and walked out into the still-frigid hallway. Peeking down the stairs, she called out.

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Oh, okay." With this, she turned around, but was cut off by her mothers response.

"Is anything wrong?"

"Uh, no, just woke up a little early." She smelt something delightful from the kitchen and ventured downstairs, each step creaking under her weight. "We really need to fix the stairs, I swear they're going to fall in with someone walking down them."

With a small smile, her mother looked over to her. "You ready to go to school? You did go to bed early last night."

"As ready as I can get."

"It's not like it's your first day!"

"I guess..." Blaire looked over to see what the divine scent was. "Bacon? What for?"

"You didn't forget, did you?"

"Err... It's... the seventh, right? Of October." A slight frown crossed her face as her eyes questioned her mother.

"Yes, which is..."

Her eyes closed for a second. She'd instantly figured out what day it was, but simply pretended that she didn't recall.

Her mother sighed, playfully pushing her. "Happy birthday, baby girl."

"I'm not a baby! I'll have you know I'm five and a half! Plus nine. Minus one half." Giggling, she smiled to her mother and thanked her, instantly turning on her heel and going towards the stove to pick up some of the bacon. "I'll have most of this and sleepyhead can have whatever I don't want..." Muttering to herself, she began to pile the bacon on her plate.

"At least leave one piece for your brother. And make sure you leave before he's scraping up the remains onto his plate and cussing at whoever is around to hear." With a wink, her mother departed up the stairs to get ready for work.

Blaire contentedly sighed to herself as she shovelled the bacon into her mouth. It seemed like today was going to be a good day.

~o~o~o~o~

Walking up the stairs to the Death Weapon Meister Academy everyday was no treat, however it was easy to grow accustomed to. She looked down at her feet, the stairs passing by one by one as she thought to herself about that awful recurring dream. Each time it was slightly more vivid, and each time slightly more was revealed. However she decided to perk up, looking forward to the day ahead.

The first person to greet her was her redheaded friend, Karka. Karka's thick, straight, bright red hair managed to make Blaire envious nearly every time she saw it.

"So?" Karka looked over to her, questioningly.

"So?" Blaire mimicked, attempting to mirror her body language best as possible.

Karka wrapped her arms around Blaire, delivering a tight bear hug. "Happy birthday, stupid!"

Blaire parroted Karka once again, this time altering her voice to sound like a parrot. Karka squinted at Blaire, a sheepish smile evident on her face as she reached into her back pocket, producing a small box wrapped in a thin blue paper. Blaire squinted back at Karka, hearing the crinkle of the paper.

"I told you... no presents."

"And I told you not to give me that look!"

Blaire smiled evilly at Karka. The redhead stepped back, not sure what was going to be coming next. Blaire twisted Karka into a headlock, and the girl began to squeal, flailing her arms in every which direction. "Lemme go!"

"Who did you say was stupid, eh?"

"You! Let go of me!" The exclamation morphing into a high-pitched squeak as Blaire released her grip, causing her friend to fall forwards as Blaire snatched the box from the redhead's hand.

Blaire had taken the box out of respect for Karka, even though she didn't quite enjoy presents. "Thanks..."

Karka simply glared up at her. "Really? Yeah, no need to help me up or anything. I just have much worse balance than you but no biggie."

Frowning, the brunette extended her hand to her friend knowing full well what was coming next, but it didn't happen. The girl had simply stood up, dusting her pants off and then turned to her friend. "Now, open it birthday girl!"

Her hands slightly shaking, Blaire peeled off the blue wrapping paper to reveal a small purple and yellow polka dotted box. With a blink, she slowly pulled open the lid, realizing the back of it was slightly hinged. And she heard a slight creaking sound, and then the box sprung open, a childish laugh erupting from it.

Blaire instantly threw the box up in the air, ducking down and shielding herself. Her reaction was much more extreme than expected, which made it even more worth it as her friend wiped a tear from her eye.

"That was _so freaking funny_! Oh my gosh it is so worth the future torment!"

Blushing, the frightened girl stood up and waved to her fast-approaching friend. "Hey Sam." Sam's messy blonde hair was kept underneath a white visor beanie, small pieces falling down into his blue eyes, which were covered by hard-rimmed glasses. He was much taller than Blaire herself was, but that wasn't saying much.

His toothy grin spread across his face and he waved back. "Happy birthday!"

"No presents?" Blaire quipped.

"Of course not, I remembered the rule."

Blaire glared daggers at Karka, who'd now dropped to the floor, clutching her sides.

"Soooooooo worth it!"

Sam's questioning gaze connected with the birthday girl's glare, which quickly faded as she explained to him that their fiend had taken advantage of her hatred of surprises. Sam looked down to the box, which was surprisingly still in-tact. He picked it up, presenting it to Blaire in his right hand.

"It's technically not a surprise anymore, so I guess you shouldn't mind taking it home." His glasses caught a sudden glare, causing the easily-startled girl to look away quickly.

"I guess..." She gingerly picked up the box, placing it in her pocket. "So, shall we head to class? Or are you going to keep laughing till you drop dead, Karka?"

~o~o~o~o~

_A huge thanks to my editor, TiffaChan! Read her story, Time Heals All because it is much better composition than I could ever begin to construct._

_I also would like to give a shout out to Miu Takyama, who has provided me with the character Karka! ^^_

_Feel free to comment and review and I will respond at the end of my next chapter ;)_


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